shen

We were excellent and actually proved that our squad is superior to all else in this league. I thought we had turned a corner from a confidence perspective after the last seasons, but we clearly haven't. It's astonishing how badly our squad has reacted to a few bad results, even with decent enough performances.

The flavours of the ice cream can't be a coincidence either...

No one is talking about it and it was only rarely mentioned before the group stages

Hah! Leicester fans are often harsher towards their own. KDH has had naysayers since before he broke into the team.

IF is the key word here, even if you've already judged and placed accountability. Bit premature. As already said, a salary cap would not suffice. There will be countless loopholes to circumvent it and the PL (and sponsors) wouldn't want to be less attractive to superstar players. Did they though? For one it brought added media attention to the PL, but it also helps the PL to justify their current course when conceivably any club can win the whole thing. We effectively did the PL and the big 6 a favour by doing the seemingly impossible.

One of many issues. If the demand is there, then I understand the players' wish to maximise their income. Don't think they are the source or cause of FFP issues.

Yup, and there was also the Mavididi and Vardy fouls first half when through on goal which looked extremely harsh at best.

Yeah, that's Ipswich alright. Well done to them. Would love them to pip So'ton and Leeds.

Massive relief getting 3 points. That smacked of lack of confidence after our defeats. Let's hope this will lift some pressure and get their heads back on track. Getting Wilf back could prove vital, even if Yunus did alright today, particularly first half.

We'll see this through. It'll be nervy, but I'll take it. Anything to get the three points and get some belief in the squad.

Yeah, he's been lenient with Sunderland and been very harsh with us I feel.

How shit must Albrighton be in training to not be used as an option for Mavididi?

You could flip it around to those saying any half decent manager would have our squad romping to the title and now that we've hit som bad consecutive results, it's down to Enzo.

Yeah with a triple deflection that hits the back of the keepers head, then the post and in.

We're starting to lose our heads. Coady, Winks, Faes. Start drumming some focus and composure into your teammates.

How unfortunate

Also, feel the Sunderland commentary is quite balanced. Makes a nice change.

Think Yunus deserves some praise too, he's been running a lot and won the ball back a couple of times.

Obbiously not. There are new signings too, but getting a tune out of Vestergaard, KDH, Hamza and reinventing Ricardo is in very large part due to the tactical disposition of Enzo. Instilling new belief in the squad and keeping them modest at the same time shows good squad management. He's been making big calls as well with squad selections which have by and large been very good. Fewer injuries to key players (I would not have expected Ricardo, Justin, KDH, Winks or even Fatawu, Mavididi, Vestergaard to have as few injuries as they have) have also been a factor in sustaining our form while we've had the depth to try out different players e.g. up front and even give youth a chance. It's a bit bizarre though to use "what if" arguments as it really downplays the benefits we've seen from this style over the first half season. Had we stuck with Dean Smith, do you think we would've had the same success?

You just cannot please all fans. If one half wants entertaining football, the other wants results. If one wants a dogmatic manager giving a clear identity, the other wants a pragmatic one that adapts style according to opposition/personnel. If one player is poor, the manager is blamed for not playing the alternative (as if he should have a magic 8 ball and know the future). I could go on. The call for Albrighton was entirely silent for the first six months. McAteer was our top scorer and then no one doubts Maresca. We've literally had shouts for all four strikers to be starting during the first 30 games too. The fickleness and lack of tactical understanding of fans is quite frustrating. No-one should be exempt from criticism and Enzo will get it wrong a few times, like today, but when people start comparing him with Rodgers (I imagine due to recency bias) I just shake my head. Rodgers was a clueless chump for the best part of 2 years and Maresca has done a very admirable job over the course of the season to turn the tide 180 degrees. But with Maresca it feels he gets plenty of criticism when winning as well as losing. Almost as if his work so far has been taken for granted...

We didn't look like losing post Cov. We were relentless up to that point and suffered some very unfortunate defeats (except maybe Leeds H). I don't blame you for thinking we could do it.

Lightning striking three times in a row in the league is a bit nuts. Surely we can't keep dominating teams and losing? This felt more like a draw than a loss if anything.

But the opposition have not improved their quality since then. They are tactically better prepared and are sharp when they need to be. But to be fair, we've also cut down on our buildup errors, so not sure the comparison is that simple.

We created nothing under Brendan for the last 1,5 years, so you're dead right. Nothing like it. Unless you're referring to our set piece achilles heel

Oh for the love of...